Alexandra House was established in 1977, when a group of concerned citizens formed the Anoka County Task Force for Battered Women. Within a year the Task Force established a 24-hour crisis line, with the first emergency shelter opening in 1980. First located in Fridley, the original shelter housed 12 women and children. In 1983 the shelter moved to a new site in Blaine that provided space for 17 residents. By 1994, the second shelter was outgrown and the organization built its current facility in Blaine, which can house up to 35 women and children (including males to age 18) at a time.